RAF Service
He rejoined the RAF in 1939 and, being a naturally gifted fighter pilot, commanded No. 310 Squadron RAF a Czech fighter squadron during the Battle of Britain. In August 1940 during the Battle of Britain, he was forced to bale out over Clacton. After a night of German bombing of the City of London, he was on dawn patrol and from his plane at 25,000 feet over the North Weald he could see the thick smoke from the fires which destroyed Blackwood's business premises in Paternoster Square. He ended the Second World War as Wing Commander commanding the Czech Fighter Wing in the RAF Second Tactical Air Force. He was decorated with the Czech War Cross and Czech Military Medal and was presented with the Czech Medal of George of Poděbrady in 1993.
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Famous quotes containing the word service:
“Human life consists in mutual service. No grief, pain, misfortune, or “broken heart,” is excuse for cutting off one’s life while any power of service remains. But when all usefulness is over, when one is assured of an unavoidable and imminent death, it is the simplest of human rights to choose a quick and easy death in place of a slow and horrible one.”
—Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935)